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2011 Growing Green Awards Winners

The 2011 Growing Green Awards recipients were selected from hundreds of nominees by an independent panel of sustainable food experts. We're thrilled to share their incredible sustainable food stories with you!

Click for information on the 2013 awards. >>

FOOD PRODUCER

Jim Cochran
Swanton Berry Farm / Santa Cruz, CA

Jim Cochran has been a pioneer in sustainable food production for more than three decades, starting the first commercially successful organic strawberry farm in California in the 1980s before the industry thought that organic growing could be profitable. Sustainability on Jim's farm now goes well beyond environmentally friendly growing practices. Swanton Berry Farm became the first 100 percent unionized organic farm in the country, and Jim's employee stock ownership plan (ESOP), health coverage and other benefits recognize his employees as vital partners in the operation.

Read Jim's blog post: When it Comes to Food, One Size Doesn’t Fit All

Read OnEarth's story: Kicking the Chemical Habit

BUSINESS LEADER

Pam Marrone
Marrone Bio Innovations / Davis, CA

Pam Marrone is the CEO and founder of Marrone Bio Innovations, a leading developer of environmentally-responsible biopesticides. When compared with conventional chemicals and pesticides, the natural products developed at MBI result in healthier plants and a safer environment. In bringing natural alternatives to market for organic and conventional growers, Pam has built a successful business model within a growing industry -- all while helping to make our food safer and reduce pollution in our water and air that can put workers and consumers at risk.

Read Pam's blog post: Natural Pesticides? Large-scale Farmers Turn to Safer Products to Keep Their Plants Healthy

KNOWLEDGE LEADER

Ann Cooper
Food Family Farming Foundation / Boulder, CO

Nicknamed the "Renegade Lunch Lady," chef Ann Cooper started the Food Family Farming Foundation to ensure that all children have access to healthy food at school. In 2010, Ann launched the Great American Salad Bar Project with Whole Foods Market, raising 1.4 million dollars to fund more than 500 salad bars in schools. Ann is currently helping the 48-school Boulder Valley School District transition from using over-processed foods to fresh and local ingredients, just as she has done before on the east and west coasts.

Read Ann's blog post: A Lunch Lady Serves up Healthy Schools, Starting in the Cafeteria

YOUNG FOOD LEADER

Molly Rockamann
EarthDance / Ferguson, MO

After spending time in the farmlands of Fiji, Thailand and Ghana, Molly Rockamann returned to the U.S. and in 2008 founded EarthDance Farms, an organization dedicated to promoting the best of all things local, including food, farming, art and community. With her unique part-time apprenticeship program, Molly is cultivating a new generation of stewards -- both young and young at heart -- for responsible farming and fresh, healthy food, all before her 30th birthday.

Read Molly's blog post: Old Roots Spring Anew in Young Farmers

Meet the 2011 Growing Green Awards Panel of Judges

NRDC is grateful to the following sustainable food leaders who served on the Growing Green Awards selection panel:

Dan Barber, Executive Chef and Co-Owner of Blue Hill restaurant and member of the President's Council on Physical Fitness, Sports and Nutrition
Michael Pollan, Knight Professor of Science and Environmental Journalism, University of California Berkeley
Maria Rodale, Chairman and CEO, Rodale Inc. and Co-Chairman of the Rodale Institute Board of Directors
Dr. Tom Tomich, WK Kellogg Endowed Chair in Sustainable Food Systems, and Director, Agricultural Sustainability Institute, University of California Davis

Dan Barber

Dan Barber is executive chef and co-owner of Blue Hill restaurant and Blue Hill at Stone Barns, restaurants that showcase local, sustainable produce and raise awareness about the effects of everyday food choices. Barber's writings on food and agricultural policy have appeared in the New York Times, Gourmet, The Nation, Saveur, and Food & Wine Magazine. Barber has also been honored with the James Beard award for Best Chef: New York City (2006) and Outstanding Chef (2009). Appointed by President Obama to serve on the President's Council on Physical Fitness, Sports and Nutrition, Dan continues the work that he began as a member of Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture's board of directors: to bring the principles of good farming directly to the table.

Michael Pollan

Michael Pollan is a distinguished author on food, agriculture, and the environment. He has authored numerous New York Times bestsellers, including Food Rules: An Eater's Manual (2010), In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto (2008), The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals (2006), and The Botany of Desire: A Plant's-Eye View of the World (2001). Pollan was named to the 2010 TIME 100, and has received numerous awards for his writing, including the James Beard Award for best magazine series. In 2003, Pollan was appointed as the director of the Knight Program in Science and Environmental Journalism at UC Berkeley's Graduate School of Journalism.
Photo: Alia Malley

Maria Rodale

Maria Rodale is the chairman and CEO of Rodale Inc., the world's leading multimedia company with a focus on health, wellness, and the environment. As an activist and businesswoman, Rodale has made promoting the benefits of an organic lifestyle both her personal mission and her business. She has authored three books, her most recent being Organic Manifesto: How Organic Farming Can Heal Our Planet, Feed the World, and Keep Us Safe (2010). Rodale co-chairs the Rodale Institute Board of Directors, and has won numerous awards, including the National Audubon Society's Rachel Carson Award (2004) and the United Nations Population Fund's Award for the Health and Dignity of Women (2007).

Dr. Tom Tomich

Dr. Tom Tomich is the founding director of the Agricultural Sustainability Institute, inaugural holder of the WK Kellogg Chair in Sustainable Food Systems, and professor of community development, environmental science, and policy at the University of California, Davis. Before joining the UC Davis faculty in 2007, Tomich served as the principal economist for the World Agroforestry Centre, leading collaborative partnerships in the Amazon, Congo Basin, and Southeast Asia to raise productivity and rural incomes without increasing deforestation. Tomich has worked all over the world, from Brazil to Indonesia, and holds a PhD in Food Research from Stanford University.

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last revised 1/15/2013